can someone expain bumpage?

Hi Jody,

Tell ya what. This issue is complex and not easily explained. It has also been hammered here on CN and is available via search. There's a lot to it.

Since there's an upgrade getting ready to occur, how about being patient until Kaliban gets the system upgraded (Feb 5). At that point I suspect, if all goes well, your search function will work "a bazillion times faster".

 

Hi there, Jody. When people talk about "bumpage" here they're referring to the fact that at least two of the big three credit reporting agencies (Equifax and Trans Union) limit the actual size ("size" meaning how big is its computer file) of your file. If the size of the file gets any bigger than the limit (and none of us has quite pinned down how to quantify that limit in real numbers), then one of two things happens. Either:

1) Certain items -- particularly inquiries (those credit report marks that occur when you requst new credit [hard inquiries, which negatively impact your credit score] or when a creditor gets an update on you [soft inquiries, which don't hurt your score]) -- begin to disappear from your report.

or

2) Your file is split into two files.

The latter consequence isn't a happy one for a number of reasons. First, when you request your file you may not realize that there are other troublesome items remaining because they're on that shadowed "split" -- i.e., #2 -- file. Second, potential mortgage lenders will probably see your whole file, so you may be blindsighted at an incredibly important moment. Third, it requires some griping to get the CRA to reassemble your report. Etc.

However, the former consequence -- where inquiries drop off -- is a happy one. That's what people around here term "bumpage" -- the process of, say, a new soft inquiry BUMPING off an older hard (or soft) inquiry.

One teensy-tiny note: Some discovered that if you pulled your Equifax or TU report enough times, your own soft inquiries would begin (for some) to "bump" off the older inquiries. Since the hard inquiries are the ones that can depress your credit score, this phenomenon was indeed celebrated. Unfortunately, Equifax no longer sells un "unlimited pulls" product -- their CreditWatch offering now allows 4 pulls per year. Someone else will have to address the status of Trans Union. I don't think that an Experian bumpage effect has ever been described.

That's pretty much it! There's more, and as Butch mentioned, try using the search function. If it's terribly slow, as it often is, wait for the announced board improvements later next week.

Doc

 

In a nutshell - these companies that rake in billions can't or won't design a computer system that doesn't completely screw everything up.

Think of it as a hollow tube that can only hold so much. Once full, everything you put in at one end (like a soft inquiry that doesn't count against your score) pushes something out at the other end (like a hard inquiry that does count against your score). On occassion, they'll just create another tube.

Speaking from experience, I've had both bumpage AND splittage with EQ. It's a mess.

-HDAlex

 

That's true, unless there's a blockage (like a split file).

Doc

P.S. Sorry.